HAPPY ST DAVID’S DAY, Patron Saint of Wales...…and please forgive me if I take this opportunity to
celebrate the release, on 20th February of my latest novel, THE CASE
OF THE CURSED COTTAGE, which is set in…yes, you guessed it...WALES!
The 7th
book in the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries series was just published, and I
want to thank everyone who pre-ordered the book, has downloaded it since its
publication, has ordered it at their local book shop, or has asked their
library to get it for them:
THANK YOU SO MUCH! DIOLCH YN FAWR!
Wondering how much more Welsh today's post can get? Hmm...let me see...
The whole post is in red, white and green; I'm looking at a vase of daffodils as I type; I'll be having leek tart for dinner tonight...and the book that just came out? Well, yes, it's set in Wales, and the cover art photo is of a real cottage in Gower, one of the world's most beautiful and scientifically interesting areas - and that's not just me saying that: Gower was the FIRST area designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural beauty (AONB) in the UK, back in 1956, and now has dozens of specially conserved Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) .
The specific cottage in the photo is of a style that's common in Gower: whitewashed stone walls, a slate roof, with dark or black gloss trim. That might sound either generic, or specific to you - but it's what I grew up seeing, and knowing, and it still pulls at my heart strings.
Even more specifically, this cottage is on the Penrice Estate in Gower. The Penrice Estate dates back to the 11th century, when the knight, de Penrice, was gifted the land after the Norman Conquest. The last of the de Penrice line died in the 15th Century, but the line married into the Mansel family, so the land went with it.
I come from the Gower family of Aces, and was born and raised in Manselton - a Victorian planned community, with dwellings built by the Mansel family to house workers at the local copper works (Swansea was known as Copperoplois for a long time due to its prominence in the global copper trade).
Thus...Gower, Penrice, Manselton...they are all connected in my mind, and in my soul. And this book allows me to indulge the process whereby inspiration and invention are allowed to work in harmony within the mind of a writer of fiction.
Here's the blurb:
‘IT MURDERED ONE OF OUR
GUESTS, AND NOW IT’S TRIED TO KILL MY HUSBAND.’
When the women of the WISE
Enquiries Agency are approached by the frantic owner of a historic cottage in a
picturesque Welsh seaside hamlet, they agree to help. After all – there can’t
be any such thing as a killer cottage, can there? And isn’t a cursed cottage
just as unlikely? They’re about to find out – when Christine and Annie take up
residence.
Meanwhile, Carol goes undercover
to investigate a day spa with some dangerous treatments, leaving Mavis to stake
out a man who might be incapacitated because of a work-related accident.
Will this bricklayer become belligerent if he spots her on the job?
Because our engaging private
investigators are busy with paying clients, it falls to Henry, eighteenth duke
of Chellingworth, to try to solve the riddle of the miss
ing silver mugs, which
is a pressing priority for his mother, the dowager, as she seeks to take over the
organisation of the christening of his son and heir.
Early spring in Wales is a busy
time for the WISE women, and the titled Twyst family – join them to find out
how they cope, in this, the seventh book in the series.
If you haven't read books 1-6 yet, now's the time!
The first 4 are available for just $3.99 for all four (for Kindle).
“…a gratifying contemporary series in the traditional British manner with hilarious repercussions (dead bodies notwithstanding). Cozy fans will anticipate learning more about these WISE ladies.”
Library Journal, starred review
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1 comment:
Happy Book Birthday, Cathy! Cx
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